Winter Burglaries – How to Prevent

When the winter months start to roll in, the chances of your home being the victim of a burglary. In fact, the peak time for a burglary is around the winter for some reason. Thankfully, keeping burglars away from your home is simpler than you may think. This is because most burglaries are opportunistic. If you do not make it easy to get in your property, the criminal is going to go elsewhere.

The Front Door

Most burglars are not going to go through the window. That looks incredibly suspicious. Instead, they are going to be attempting to force their way through your front door. If it looks old and tatty, then they will be able to get in. Invest in a good quality lock. The homes which tend to avoid being burgled are those which have at least two locks in place. Yes. It is going to be a bit cumbersome to get into your home, or to lock it up, but the fact that you are reducing most burglaries is going to be fantastic.

Home Alarm System

The next thing you will need to do is get a home alarm system in place. Choose a decent system. It is going to cost you a little bit more, but it is going to be worth it. Remember; people who regularly find themselves worming their way into homes will know which alarms fantastic and which ones are are ‘fake’ or do not provide adequate warning. If you try to go for something cheap, then you are going to suffer.

Camera Systems

I know these are going to be a bit expensive, so maybe not something that you want to invest in right away. However, one of the first things that potential criminals keep an eye out for when they are about to break into a house is camera systems.
If you really can’t afford a camera, then you can purchase ‘decoy’ systems, although to bear in mind that some of the more ‘regular’ criminals will be able to tell what is a decoy system and what is not.

Windows

Lock them. Thankfully, this is something that you are going to be doing in the winter anyway. Even if you are planning to pop out for five minutes, make sure that the windows are locked. Criminals can get in and out with a decent amount of stuff within a few minutes. Remember; most home break-ins are in properties which have been watched for a while. If you regularly go out for five minutes, then the criminals are going to know this.

Keep Things Hidden

Finally; make sure that you keep expensive items hidden in your home. If you have the latest phone or games console out there for the world to see, then obviously people are going to try and break in and get their hands on it. It is basically free money. Keep your curtains closed or, better yet, items not on show and you will eliminate the potential for most break-ins.